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Proper Names
It is well known
that the names of Indians are almost
always connotive, and particularly
that they generally refer to some
animal, predicating often some
attribute or position of that
animal. Such names readily admit of
being expressed in sign language,
but there may be sometimes a
confusion between the sign
expressing the animal which is taken
as a name-totem, and the sign used,
not to designate that animal, but as
a proper name. A curious device to
differentiate proper names was
observed as resorted to by a Brulé
Dakota. After making the sign of the
animal he passed his index forward
from the mouth in a direct line, and
explained it orally as "that is his
name," i.e., the name of the
person referred to. This approach to
a grammatic division of substantives
maybe correlated with the mode in
which many tribes, especially the
Dakotas, designate names in their
pictographs, i.e., by a line
from the mouth of the figure
drawn representing a man to the
animal, also drawn with proper color or position. Fig. 150 thus shows the
name of Shun-ka Luta, Red Dog, an Ogallalla chief, drawn by
himself. The shading of the dog by vertical lines is
designed to represent red, or gules, according to the
heraldic
scheme of colors,
which is used in other parts of this
paper where it seemed useful to
designate particular colors. The
writer possesses in painted robes
many examples in which lines are
drawn from the mouth to a
name-totem.
It would be interesting to dwell
more than is now allowed upon the
peculiar objectiveness of Indian
proper names with the result, if not
the intention, that they can all be
signified in gesture, whereas the
best sign-talker among deaf-mutes is
unable to translate the proper names occurring
in his speech or narrative and, necessarily ceasing signs,
resorts to the dactylic alphabet. Indians are generally
named at first according to a clan or totemic system, but
later in life often acquire a new name or perhaps several
names in succession from some exploit or adventure.
Frequently a sobriquet is given by no means complimentary.
All of the subsequently acquired, as well as the original
names, are connected with material objects or with
substantive actions so as to be expressible in a graphic
picture, and, therefore, in a pictorial sign. The
determination to use names of this connotive character is
shown by the objective translation, whenever possible, of
those European names which it became necessary to introduce
into their speech. William Penn was called "Onas," that
being the word for feather-quill in the Mohawk dialect. The
name of the second French governor of Canada was "Montmagny"
which was translated by the Iroquois "Onontio"—"Great
Mountain," and becoming associated with the title, has been
applied to all successive Canadian governors, though the
origin being generally forgotten, it has been considered as
a metaphorical compliment. It is also said that Governor
Fletcher was not named by the Iroquois "Cajenquiragoe," "the
great swift arrow," because of his speedy arrival at a
critical time, but because they had somehow been informed of
the etymology of his name—"arrow maker" (Fr. fléchier).Washington, City of.
The sign for go by closing the hand (as in type
position B 1) and bending the arm; the hand is then brought
horizontally to the epigastrium, after which both the hand
and arm are suddenly extended; the sign for house or
lodge; the sign for cars, consisting of the
sign for go and wagon, e.g., both arms are
flexed at a right angle before the chest; the hands then
assume type position (L) modified by the index being hooked
and the middle finger partly opened and hooked similarly;
the hands are held horizontally and rotated forward side by
side to imitate two wheels, palms upward; and the sign for
council as follows: The right arm is raised, flexed
at elbow, and the hand brought to the mouth (in type
position G 1, modified by being inverted), palm up, and the
index being more open. The hand then passes from the mouth
in jerks, opening and closing successively; then the right
hand (in position S 1), horizontal, marks off divisions on
the left arm extended. The sign for father is briefly
executed by passing the open hand down and from the loins,
then bringing it erect before the body; then the sign for
cars, making with the mouth the noise of an engine. The
hands then raised before the eyes and approximated at
points, as in the sign for lodge; then diverge to
indicate extensive; this being followed by the sign
for council. (Oto and Missouri I.) "The home
of our father, where we go on the puffing wagon to council."
Missouri River.
Make the sign for water by placing the right hand
upright six or eight inches in front of the mouth, back
outward, index and thumb crooked, and their ends about an
inch apart, the other fingers nearly closed; then move it
toward the mouth, and then downward nearly to the top of the
breast-bone, at the same time turning the hand over toward
the mouth until the little finger is uppermost; and the sign
for large as follows: The opened
right hands, palms facing, fingers
relaxed and slightly separated,
being at the height of the breast
and about two feet apart, separate
them nearly to arm's length; and
then rapidly rotate the right hand
from
right to left several times, its back upward, fingers spread
and pointing forward to show that it is stirred up or muddy.
(Dakota IV.)
Eagle Bull, a Dakota Chief
Place the clinched fists to either
side of the head with the forefingers extended
and curved, as in Fig. 298; then
extend the left hand, flat, palm
down, before the left side, fingers
pointing forward; the outer edge of
the flat and extended right hand is
then laid transversely across the
back of the left hand, and slid
forward over the fingers as in Fig.
299. (Dakota VI; Ankara
I.) "Bull and eagle—'Haliaëtus
leucocephalus, (Linn.) Sav.'" In the
picture-writing of the Moquis, Fig. 300
represents the eagle's tail as
showing the difference of color
which is indicated in the latter
part of the above gesture.
Rushing Bear, an Arikara chief.
Place the right fist in front of the right
side of the breast, palm down; extend and
curve the thumb and little finger so that
their tips point toward one another before
the knuckles of the remaining closed
fingers, then reach forward a short distance
and pull toward the body several times
ratter quickly; suddenly push the fist, in
this form, forward to arm's length twice. (Dakota
VI; Arikara I.) "Bear, and rushing."
Spotted Tail, a Dakota chief.
With the index only of the right hand
extended, indicate a line of curve from the
sacrum (or from the right buttock) downward,
backward, and outward toward the right; then
extend the left forefinger, pointing forward
from the left side, and with the extended
index draw imaginary lines transversely
across the left forefinger. (Absaroka
I; Shoshoni I; Dakota VI, VII;
Arikara I.) "Tail, and spotted."
Stumbling Bear, a Kaiowa chief.
Place the right fist in front of the right
side of the breast, palm down; extend and
curve the thumb and little finger so that
their tips point toward one another before
the knuckles of the remaining closed
fingers; then place the left flat hand
edgewise before the breast, pointing to the
right; hold the right hand flat pointing
down nearer the body; move it forward toward
the left, so that the right-hand fingers
strike the left palm and fall downward
beyond the left. (Kaiowa I.) "Bear,
and stumble or stumbling."
Swift Runner, a Dakota warrior.
Place the right hand in front of the right
side, palm down; close all the fingers
excepting the index, which is slightly
curved, pointing forward; then push the hand
forward to arm's length twice, very quickly.
(Dakota VI; Arikara I.) "Man
running rapidly or swiftly."
Wild Horse, a Comanche chief.
Place the extended and separated index and
second fingers of the right hand astraddle
the extended forefinger of the left hand.
With the right hand loosely extended, held
as high as and nearly at arm's length before
the shoulder, make several cuts downward and
toward the left. (Comanche III.)
"Horse, and prairie or wild."
Indian Sign
Language
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Sign Language
Among North American Indians Compared with
that Among Other Peoples and Deaf-Mutes,
1881
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